In an attempt to boost poor sales, a gambling software website is trialling a ‘pay-by-link’ model. The RealTimePokerOdds software tells players the exact odds of their Texas Hold'Em hand winning, whilst they're actually playing. Users get a free licence if they create a hyperlink in a website or blog to the software website.

The move comes as a result of Google Adwords refusal to deal with gambling-related sites and essentially reduces the price of the software product from $47 to the click of a hyperlink.

By giving away the software in return for links to their website www.free-online-poker-odds-software.com, the company hopes to improve its ranking within Google and the other search engines.

It remains to be seen if the approach will work, but top rankings within Google for highly competitive search terms are worth their weight in gold. Some Google and Overture advertisers pay up to $10 per click for the most competitive terms.

‘We've had to come up with an alternate strategy to build our web presence,’ said the RealTimePokerOdds CEO, ‘If someone wants to use our software, all they have to do is link to our site, from either a website or a blog. That costs them almost nothing, but is very valuable to us.’